Outside...

Mary loves being outside... she loves her shadow, the wind and the sounds. Most of all, she loves picking up random things and walking around with them for hours...pinecones, wood chips or rocks, she loves it all. Looks like we might have to break a habit of hordering before too long!

Happy (Day After) Mother's Day!

First, I'd like to say Happy Mother's Day to all the moms reading this, especially our mothers and grandmothers. We would not be where we are today if not for you. And not just in the "if you didn't give birth to us, we wouldn't exist" sort of way, but in a "you've helped shape who we are" sense. Just wanted to be clear. =)

Second, I wanted to wish Lisa a Happy (Day After) Mother's Day here on the blog. Mary couldn't ask for a better mommy to care for her, and if Mary were capable of articulating her agreement, she would. Lisa has done an amazing job in slightly over 1 year of motherhood. She loves Mary well, from spending quality time with her to keeping up with what Mary should be eating and other tasks for which I'm ill equipped.

But most of all, Lisa provides a godly example for Mary. She is a woman of prayer, who, by the grace of God, will train Mary (and other Pierce babies to come) to serve the Lord in every facet of life. While loving the Lord is not hereditary, it is something that can be demonstrated by parents and emulated by children. Lisa and I both pray that our children will see the work of Christ in our lives and learn to love Him.

So, in honor of Lisa, here are a few pictoral highlights of her journey in motherhood. I would post more, but Lisa has the newest ones on her computer, so I only have 1 from this year (Easter weekend).

Pics from Florida

When we were in Florida a few weeks back, a good family friend (thanks Dylan!) took some pictures of everyone (us and Lisa's family). Lisa's mom just sent us a few, and we couldn't wait to get these up.

Just so you know, we plan on catching up a bit on this blog this week, so expect some more pictures soon.

Put the Lime in the Coconut

Mary trying lime for the first time.

Happy Birthday MARY!!!

Mary is ONE! We had a little birthday party for our big girl this weekend. I think she loved it! Just kidding, she had no idea what was going on. :) My parents came in town from FL for the weekend and we had a great time together! Danny's family also came in town for the party. It was great to have everyone there to celebrate! Here is Mary with her favorite Pierce cousin, Ryan. Don't they look like twins?!?... except that Mary looks slightly Asian and Ryan looks entirely Irish.

Mary was excited about something! And you can finally see her big, white and very spred apart top two teeth. We love them... but I'm sure in a few years she'll be very glad that her Papa is a dentist!

She cared a lot about the birthday song... can you tell?

She did, however, enjoy the cake.

Mary's favorite things are her shadow on the ground, her pacifier, and fake laughing with us.... none of which could have been the theme for her party. So, we did flowers because it's almost spring in Boston! Yeah! A special thanks to my good friend, Beth, for doing our cake and decorating our flower brownies... and for setting the whole thing up to make it look cute. That is not my gifting so I was very thankful for her! :)

she's ONE!

my little baby girl turned one today. i can't believe it! we're going to do a little recap of her life (i mean, she has had a pretty full one thus far!) soon. but, for now i will leave you with some pictures to document her biggest birthday event today. meghan, our good friend and mom of one of mary's best friends, took us to get a cupcake to celebrate mary. what you are about to see is actually all that she had of the cupcake.... but we are going to give her real cake at her little birthday party this weekend. we're crazy, i know! :)

mary and lily picking out the cupcake... mary was actually practicing walking, as you can see from her very concentrated face.

i love the faces that mary is making... she's obviously very excited about her treat. unfortunately, i too am overly excited and have cheesey mom face. oh well, i was excited!

Just In Case You Didn't Believe Us...

For those scoring at home, Mary took her first steps back on March 30. But, since she is her father's daughter, Mary has pretty much refused to do anything on camera. In fact, she refuses to walk at all when prompted, preferring to do so when she feels like it. Yeah, that's my girl.

Anyway, tonight was a big night because I finally got Mary to walk while on camera. As a bonus, at the beginning she even debuts her "Hula Hoop Dance" to the outside world, something she's entertained us with for a couple weeks now.

As cliche as it is, it's hard to believe our little baby girl is about to celebrate her first birthday! Before her birthday on April 15, I'll throw up a couple "Mary Vault" posts to look back on her first year.